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Lycorises Reverie, 2023
Digital loop video, 20K resolution video
Duration: 4 mins 29 sec
Ed. 1/3 + 2 APs
Copyright The Artist
About The Artwork
Xin Liu presents Lycorises Reverie (2023), an immersive encounter with the imaginary world of the Lycorises, made in collaboration with media artist and scientist Nan Zhao. Digitally born yet biologically evolved, Lycorieses is a series of artworks initially inspired by the illustrations of 19th-century German zoologist Ernst Haeckel. The project uses generative tools to respond to the strange beauty of microscopic organisms and flowers. Across the course of the animation algorithmically-generated forms that resemble real-world Lycoris plants crossed with fictitious organisms constantly adapt to environments such as volcanoes, alien deserts, and cyberspace.
About Xin Liu and Nan Zhao
Xin Liu (b. 1991) is an artist and engineer currently based between London and New York. Working across sculpture, digital art, and film Xin’s work considers the personal implications of our increasing technological advancements. She received an MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2015 and an MS from MIT Media Lab in 2017. Xin is an artist-in-residence at SETI Institute, an advisor for LACMA Art+Tech Lab, a researcher at Antikythera, Berggren Institute, the founding Arts Curator in the Space Exploration Initiative at MIT Media Lab, and the Visiting Fellow at Cornell Tech (2024–25). Xin is the 2024 recipient of the K11 Artist Prize and has been selected as part of the 2025 Artsy Vanguard. Her first US institutional solo exhibition, Seedlings and Offsprings was held at Pioneer Works, New York in 2023. Notable recent exhibitions include those at Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; Benton Museum of Art at Pomona College, California; and Sapporo International Arts Festival, Japan (all 2024). Xin’s work is included in collections such as M+ Museum, Hong Kong; KADIST Foundation, France; Ars Electronica, Austria, and X Museum, China. Xin is the recipient of numerous awards and residencies, including Porche’s Chinese Young Artist of the Year 2021, Forbes 30 under 30 Asia, the Van Lier Fellowship, and the SXSW Interactive Innovation Award.